Baby Market
by cinnysangel
Summary: The team investigates a series of murders involving business women, who disappear and are found, dumped in a rural area. When the case runs cold the team wonders if they should move on, when a break in the case adds a twist none of them expect.
1. Chapter 1

**Baby Market**

**The team is investigating a series of murders that seem out of place for the remote area, and they struggle to find out who is killing these young professional women and why. **

**Chapter 1**

"Come on Reid you haven't even started your coffee and you never touched the pie. Finish up so we can get going!" Morgan swiveled the breakfast barstool around, resting his elbows on the counter leaning his back against the Formica edging.

Reid hunched over his coffee his mind somewhere else entirely.

"More coffee?" The waitress in the powder blue uniform asked, while holding a pot in her hand. Her name tag read Eileen and she tried to smile at them but it was a wary kind as she glanced once again at the gun on Morgan's belt.

Morgan looked over his shoulder and shook his head. She walked three steps away, keeping an eye on them. Morgan was beginning to feel like he was a bug under a magnifying glass. Everywhere he looked he caught the patrons and staff stealing glances at him. He resisted the urge to pull out his badge and shout FBI, ending the accusations in their tracks. He looked to his left yet again, at the back of the younger Agent sitting there, rehashing the case in his mind, ignoring Morgan's begging and pleading. "Tell me what is on your mind?" Morgan requested, even though they had rehashed this case over and over again. It was time to take a giant step back, and since the unsub has stopped killing at the moment they had time to think it through.

Reid ignored Morgan's question. He wasn't being rude, in actuality he never heard him. Something was nagging him and it played at the corners of his consciousness begging to be brought into the light. What am I missing? He asked himself again.

Finally Morgan had had enough, "I'm going to leave without you." He just got those words out when Reid bolted off the stool and ran to the door.

"Morgan, I know why they killed these women!" He shouted as he pushed the glass door open, disappearing out into the bright sun light.

The waitress stood with her mouth hanging open as Reid ran from the building. The diner went deathly quiet, all eyes on Morgan. "We're FBI." Morgan explained quietly as he opened his wallet and threw twenty dollars on the counter, "That should cover it." He went to the door and as he pushed it open, she yelled, "Your change?"

"Keep it!"

Morgan was already out the door when she said, "Doesn't he want me to wrap this up?"

Morgan knew he had left that woman more of a tip than his food had cost, and she didn't deserve it. Reid was already behind the wheel of the SUV with the engine running.

"You owe me ten dollars."

"That pie and coffee cost ten dollars?" Reid asked in disbelief.

"No but since you ran out so fast I was afraid you would leave me there, so I threw down a 20. You owe me ten dollars and an explanation!"


	2. Chapter 2

**As always I do not own any part of ABC, CBS, or Criminal Minds. For entertainment purposes only. Any resemblance to person's living, dead or fictional is purely coincidental.**

**Chapter 2**

**Two weeks earlier…**

"Reid, come here!" Garcia waved at him from the doorway of her office. "Hurry up!"

Spencer ran up the stairs and into Penelope's office expecting something really bad to be happening. Instead the sight he seen made him double over in laughter. There on the computer screen was Morgan dancing around the supply closet with a dust mop, singing "sexy back"

"Is….there…ahhaa…audio?" Reid choked out on a giggle.

Garcia clicked some keys and the sound got louder and Morgan's voice came through… "Get your sexy on…"

"You tell anyone I showed you this I am going to put a hurt on you so bad that you will be reduced to a pile of quivering goo even your mamma wouldn't recognize." Garcia pointed her purple painted finger nail at him.

"Too late!" Reid dropped to the floor lying on his back holding his ribs laughing, in hysterics.

Garcia looked back at the monitor.

JJ stood in the door of the supply closet, file in hand watching Morgan dancing, with a smirk on her face. "Morgan?" She looked at his back a few moments before she walked up to him and pulled one of the ear buds out. He spun around quickly startled by her.

She lifted it to her ear, listening to what was on his ipod. She raised her eyebrows, "Justin Timberlake?"

He snatched it out of her hand and pushed the mop back into the corner with his free hand. "Do you need something?"

"A case came in." She held up the file. He walked passed her, out of the closet and she said, "Go head be gone with it…" And she laughed loudly. He turned around put his hands on her hips and gyrated in front of her. JJ swatted him with the case file laughing.

Emily walked by with a cup of coffee in her hand putting it to her lips, when she saw Morgan and JJ she spit the coffee out, "What the hell?" Morgan ran to her and grabbed her too, dancing with her.

"It's to damn early for this!" Emily shouted. "You spill my coffee and I am going to shoot you!"

Morgan stopped and said, "What's up Prentiss rough night?"

A few moments later they all gathered into the conference room, at the round table. All fun set aside as they waited to be briefed on the case. Morgan tossed fresh pens in everyone's direction, the stash he got from the supply closet. JJ took a long draw from her coffee mug and then she went to work. "Millicent Mitchell, Kari Dansworth, and Scarlett Abbing disappeared within the last six weeks and their bodies were found in Laramie County Wyoming. Shot once in the head execution style."

"No staging of the bodies?" Rossi asked.

"No sir, it appears they were left where they died."

"No signs of remorse." Reid added.

"No sexual assault, so we can rule out sadists." Emily injected.

"And crimes of passion." Morgan added. "Too much planning."

"We will leave in 15 minutes." Hotch was saying as the agents stood gathering their things.

"Sir there is something else." JJ added. Everyone stopped "This seems to be related to another case involving two killings execution style over a 6 week period in Scottsbluff, Landmark County Nebraska, and thirteen months prior to these killings. Both men in the lives of these women in Nebraska were charged with the murders, and have proclaimed their innocence."

"What makes you fell they are related?" Hotch asked from the doorway.

JJ took a deep breath, she really didn't have any proof only something the detective said to her over the phone. Would Hotch think she was grasping at straws? "The lead detective that contacted me, Kuruk Pravar, told me about the others. I have a feeling about this, Hotch. I don't know for sure I just feel it so strongly."

"Pravar is an Arapaho name." Reid said out of the blue.

"How do you know that? Never mind don't tell me!" Morgan held a hand in front of Reid's face before walking out of the room.


	3. Chapter 3

**Baby Market**

**Old Life New Life**

**As always I do not own any part of ABC, CBS, or Criminal Minds. For entertainment purposes only. Any resemblance to person's living, dead or fictional is purely coincidental.**

Chapter 3

The flight to Wyoming was uneventful, quiet really. Normally they spent this time discussing the case but this time they were silent. No one wanted to bring up the last time they were in Wyoming or the Rapist/Killer they never caught. Each of the Agents independently kept up with that case, but it weighed heavily on Emily's conscious. She couldn't forgive herself for the role she played in it. Blaming herself completely for the failure.

JJ looked at Emily. She knew what was going through her mind. Elijah Talpert. JJ wanted to tell Emily again that it wasn't her fault, Elijah had pulled a gun and she had to shoot him. Talpert was hell bent on killing someone and wouldn't have thought twice about taking out a Federal Agent. Ok so he wasn't guilty of the rapes and murders but he was far from innocent. Elijah Talpert had dreams, hopes, and big plans; unfortunately those hopes and dreams were not ones you wished he would have. Moving from Marshal County Alabama, a place often referred to as Meth Mountain, due to the high amounts of Methamphetamine use, Elijah had hoped to recreate the same atmosphere in Wyoming. He was increasingly paranoid and dangerous. JJ understood that the shooting of Talpert had silenced the investigation of their unsub, but his complete silence made JJ think other factors were involved. All she could do was guess, maybe he was in jail, maybe he died, maybe he was at work somewhere else, but either way the case had gone cold and they had moved on, mostly.

*******

"You always do that." Tanner said to her.

"Do what?" Faith asked.

"You rub your stomach."

"Oh I didn't realize I was doing that." She moved her hand away.

"No don't stop, looks good, you care about the baby. Remember don't agree right away you need to get to know them first."

"Tanner I know! We went over this so many times before, I'm ready."

An hour later she sat in an outdoor café in a sundress and flip flops. It was getting a little chilly so she wrapped a tan sweater around her. She couldn't button it, her belly got in the way. Her contact The Leslie's should be here in ten minutes. She finished her ice tea and ordered another. She was hungry but she couldn't order food, she had just enough money to pay for the ice tea in case they didn't show up. Her fears were put to rest a few moments later. The Leslie's came to her table and shook her hand.

"Don't get up" Natalie Leslie said.

"Oh I have to; I need to go to the bathroom."

"You're not going to leave, are you?" Natalie was nervous.

"No, I just really have to pee." she touched her belly and smiled. "Order me a chef salad, with French dressing on the side."

Natalie looked at her, tilting her head to the right.

"I have money, to pay for it."

"Oh no, that is not what I was thinking. I was going to ask if that is all you want. I…. we are going to pay for lunch."

"I can't let you do that."

"Yes you can, we insist." Geoffrey Leslie said. First thing he said since arriving. Faith wondered about that.

When she returned from the bathroom the look of relief on Natalie's face was obvious. They were desperate and she liked that. They would pay and pay a lot.

"When are you due?" Geoffrey asked.

"Two months" He nodded.

We talked for another half hour, Ate our lunch and then, Natalie said, "I hope you consider us. You can come see our home, meet our family but please think about it. We would love your baby, forever."

"I have to… I have to think about it!"

"But Tanner said you wanted to give the baby up." Mrs. Leslie was getting scared; her voice rose and her husband put his hand on her arm.

"I have to go." Faith ran from the table and they sat in stunned silence until Natalie began to cry.

.

Back at their tiny apartment Faith kicked her flip flops off and removed her sweater. She went to the kitchen and opened the cabinet. She got a bottle of pills out and popped two in her mouth. Her back hurt and she hoped the aspirin would help. She went to their bed room and looked at her reflection in the mirror. She slipped out of the sundress and then out of the fake baby bump. She put on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt waiting for Tanner to come home. She looked at her flat stomach, bastards were bargaining for a baby, but they had no idea what they really bargained for.


	4. Chapter 4

**Baby Market**

**Red Hot**

**As always I do not own any part of ABC, CBS, or Criminal Minds. For entertainment purposes only. Any resemblance to person's living, dead or fictional is purely coincidental.**

**Thanks, **

**Cinny**

Chapter 4

**Now….**

"Reid, are you going to tell me what the hell is going on?" Morgan barked at him. "And slow down!" Reid took a corner a little to fast and the SUV fish tailed briefly before he got it back under control. Morgan was slammed against the door and he held on for dear life. He realized exactly why Hotch never let Reid drive. He was too aggressive, a complete departure from his normal ways. If he could channel some of this into his personality people wouldn't take advantage of him like they normally did. Morgan thought of that for a minute, what kind of crazy idea was that. Aggressive Reid would never shut up. He barely spent a moment with his mouth closed now. Add a little bit of boldness and Reid would not only give you statistics, he would shove them down your throat. That was the scariest thing Morgan could imagine.

Reid slammed on the breaks in front of the police station, he had the car in park and the engine off before it came to a complete stop. He hit the ground running and Morgan had to sprint to keep up with him. That was until he realized just how ridiculous this all was. It wasn't as if he didn't know where Reid was going, or that he would get away. Morgan slowed down and walked calmly into the station. Reid was on the phone with Hotch telling him he needed them all to come back in when Morgan made it to the interrogation room.

"Reid I swear to God if you don't tell me what is going on in that over sized brain of yours I'm gonna…."

"Morgan, we profiled two people selling their baby and one of them being the shooter the male, but why do they only kill the women?"

"They kill them alone. They isolate the women and then shoot them. Because of what they represent, a mother influence?" Morgan was running all of that through his head thinking on the lines of what Reid was getting at.

Reid asked "Could they be modeling what happened to them? Or could it be something else?"

"Like what?" Morgan had hit that mental wall again and he needed to have some questions answered.

Hotch and the rest of the team arrived shortly after that and Reid told them what he was thinking. Hotch nodded, "Get Garcia on it."

Reid dialed Garcia's number, she answered on the third ring.

"Penelope Garcia." He tone was strong and annoyed.

Reid was sidelined for a minute when she answered the phone that way, "Garcia, are you ok?"

"Yes Reid I am fine. How can I help you?" Reid looked at the team.

"I ah…um…." Reid looked at the team again shaking his head, opening his mouth but nothing came out.

"Spencer you called me, I can't read your mind."

"Um right, I need get me a list of people who have applied for and have been turned down recently for adoptions"

"Reid, that's not going to be easy. Most adoptions are sealed and private."

Reid looked at Hotch with a concerned look on his face. "Oh and can you look for one more thing young girls who may have had their children taken away, put up for adoption or maybe placed in foster care?"

Penelope sighed loudly, and then she said, "I'll let you know if I find anything."

"Baby girl what gives?" But the only answer Morgan received was a dial tone.

"What? Oh no, she didn't just hang up on me."

"Sir I think when we get back Penelope could use some time off." JJ said to Hotch.

Morgan called Penelope again

"What?" she scowled into the phone.

"Hold up, why the icy attitude."

"Oh you don't like the icy attitude, fine how about red hot them? Leave me alone and let me do my damn job!" The line went dead and Morgan looked at his phone as if it had turned into some alien life form.

Emily watched Morgan and then a thought occurred to her, 'The date.' "Oh no!" All the agents looked at Emily "We forgot the anniversary, our first case together."

Reid said, "But that isn't until…..Yesterday."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**Thirteen hours earlier**

Faith got dressed. She was ready to meet the family again and this time she would show them the ultra sound photos. If they tried to get too close she would act as if she was having second thoughts, that usually made them back up and be on guard. Tanner had made the payment arrangements and they settled on $20,000 cash, a quarter of it now and the rest when the baby was born. Trouble was the baby wouldn't be born and they would bolt with the five grand. It was an easy plan and the people they dealt with were desperate. Tanner called and told her he had the money and he was on his way. She would catch up to him when the meeting was over. Faith looked at the ultra sound picture again. What would this baby look like now, she wondered, Here it was hard to tell the picture was snowy and not as clear as it could be. She tucked it away and headed out the door "Time for a change in plans" Faith said out loud

.

Natalie picked up the phone recognizing the number immediately it was the one she had bought for Faith in case she went into labor. Natalie was worried. Faith never let her touch the baby inside of her belly and only showed them a hospital release form with her positive pregnancy test, something seemed wrong but Geoffrey had reassured her.

"Tanner is having second thoughts about the baby." Faith had said tearfully into the phone. "I can't have a baby right now, how will I care for it." Faith sobbed for a few moments as Natalie listened thinking her life was coming to an end, they were not going to get this baby after all. She started to cry too.

"Can you please come and talk to him, please!" Faith begged.

"We will be right there, Faith it will be ok."

"No you have to come alone because he will get mad that I called. I beg of you Natalie for the sake of your baby, don't make Tanner mad." Faith smiled to herself that always worked saying 'your baby' they always fell for that.

"Faith maybe it would be better if you got away from Tanner we can have you stay here with us."

"I don't know, maybe. I'll wait for you on I 90." After her plan was set she hung up and walked to the highway she would meet Natalie.

*******

**Now**

Geoffrey Leslie called the police. What am I going to tell them? Oh God where was she? This was not like Natalie to just disappear and she was gone the whole night. He wasn't even sure what to say about where she could have gone because he really didn't know where she had gone. All he knew was she had sounded upset and told him she was going to take care of some loose ends. Whatever the hell that meant. He picked up the phone and dialed 911.

Twenty minutes later he was sitting in his living room explaining what his wife said to him and the last time he saw her.

Malcolm McCann looked at Mr. Leslie, a seed of doubt blooming in his gut as the man talked about a mystery phone call his wife received.

"So you don't know who your wife was talking to?" Officer McCann asked.

"No I don't but the number is on caller ID. I tried to call it but it goes to voicemail." Geoffrey knew that phone couldn't be traced to them. Natalie had paid cash for it.

Malcolm stood up looking at the phone, he jotted down the number. He took the rest of the report and then told Geoffrey Leslie to sit tight and he would get back to him.

**Twelve hours earlier…**

"Can you pull over here I need to go to the bathroom." Faith said pointing to a row of trees.

"I can stop at a gas station it's only a few miles down the road."

"You don't understand when you're pregnant you have to go right away, you can not wait." Faith squirmed in the seat.

Natalie looked hurt and Faith said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it, I just don't think when I talk sometimes."

"It's ok, this isn't your fault that I can't get pregnant." She pulled the car over and Faith ran from it.

Natalie felt like she was doing something illegal like robbing a bank and she stood on the outside of the car with it running watching for cars. It was deserted, this part of the highway was always empty, except for a few trucks at night, and no one used it since the new superhighway was built. This lonely two lane road couldn't compare to the six lane expressway that went in last year. Faith came out a few minutes later and she stopped at a clearing overlooking the bluff. Natalie drew near and Faith said, "It's beautiful isn't it?"

"Yes, but we better get going. Who knows what is out here and we have to get back down to the city." She started to walk to the car and Faith took one more look at the city lights.

She walked up behind Natalie Leslie, pointed a gun at her head and pulled the trigger.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

**Now**

Morgan's phone rang, "You're on speaker phone baby girl."

"This does not get you off the hook, I'm still mad and I expect chocolate, dancing, dinner and a movie. And the rest of the team can take me to this concert I want to see. All of this better be done the moment you get back here. Understand?"

"Yes sugar, what news do you have for us?"

"Sadly nothing yet, I just wanted to say, Thank you for my flowers!" Garcia squealed in excitement.

"Ok call us back as soon as you find something." Morgan was about to hang up when Reid said, "Garcia, check for pregnant runaways."

"Reid what are you suggesting?"

"I think our unsubs are younger than we thing."

JJ stood up, "How young?"

"I'm thinking between 15 and 18 years old."

"Reid you do realize we don't have a profile if they are that young?" Hotch looked at the younger agent in astonishment.

"I think that they are faking the pregnancy but to the girl it isn't fake. She is reliving her own pregnancy some thing happened to her though that set her off."

Rossi moved closer, "That makes sense in Nebraska both men described a young couple not wanting a child and only wanted enough money to get themselves a place to live."

"The husbands here described the same thing only the couple needed money to finish school."

"So they are selling a baby they aren't having?" Prentiss asked.

"How do they pull that off?" JJ added.

"I have no idea." Reid shook his head.

Detective Pravar came into the room, "There has been a body found on I90 single gunshot to the head. If I am correct it is the body of a young woman reported missing this morning."

Hotch followed the detective, "Reid keep working on this. JJ, will you stay here with him?"

"Yes, we'll let you know if Garcia finds anything."

The rest of the agents followed Hotch to the crime scene.


End file.
